The restoring thread

Grimlock · Post by **Grimlock** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:40 pm

Okay, he has arrived home with yet another lump of scrap iron that used to be a tractor and he is going to restore it and I thought that you guys may be interested to see how a job like this is done.

The tractor in question is a 1969 / 70 David Brown 990 Selectamatic.

I will post pics and technical info as the work progresses.

Here is what it looks like now : -

[img][img]http://i39.tinypic.com/29ptfyx.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i41.tinypic.com/23t0560.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i44.tinypic.com/34eym9y.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i40.tinypic.com/166aant.jpg[/img][/img]

[img][img]http://i39.tinypic.com/2ltpxqt.jpg[/img][/img]

Work will begin shortly.

ghostinthemachine · Post by **ghostinthemachine** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 1:47 pm

wouldnt this actually be a custom restore

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:17 pm

Nope, i will be restoring it to its former glory, it will ( hopefully ) look the same as it did when it left the Meltham factory over 30 years ago.

If people are interested i will list all of the parts that i need to do the job

Ironhide · Post by **Ironhide** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 2:40 pm

She's a beaut!
GL on the job

Sideways · Post by **Sideways** » Thu Dec 18, 2008 6:11 pm

Please. Post what parts you'll need and the overall steps you'll do. I love this kinda stuff.

HailStorm · Post by **HailStorm** » Fri Dec 19, 2008 9:37 am

Where do you find your parts at?

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 10:59 am

Where do you find your parts at?

tractor scrapyards, dealers, restorers, specialist manufacturers or sometimes even embedded in a hedgerow. ( where do ya think i found the tractor )

Please. Post what parts you'll need and the overall steps you'll do

No problem, I will be starting with the clutch coz i burned it out trying to drag start the tractor.

I am having a day on it tomorrow so I will know better then what parts are needed. its gonna be a long job.

SentinelPrime · Post by **SentinelPrime** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:02 pm

My Dad gets a bunch of Antique Tractor Calendars every year to give out to his customers. These are pics of the tractors from the calendar. I DO NOT own ANY of them![/b] I just thought you tractor buffs would enjoy seeing the pics of unusal tractors!

1) This one is a 1940 Armored John Deere. It has two 30 caliber machine guns turrents. It was a proto-type for the Dept. of Defense in the early days of WWII.

2) This one is a 1942 John Deere LA. It is the smallest John Deere model in the 2-cylinder era. This tractor's primary goal was to try and convert farmers from animal power to tractor power. Brand new it cost: $545.

3) This one is a 1935 Plymouth. Only 217 of these were ever built! Only 30 of these tractors are still in running condition.

4) This one is a 1938 Graham-Bradley. This could be ordered from the Sears-Roebuck catalogue.

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 5:35 pm

i wouldnt mind the armoured JD. I could really cause some trouble with one of them

Grimlock · Post by **Grimlock** » Sat Dec 20, 2008 7:22 pm

He causes enough trouble without armour and machine guns ....

Post by **Time Traveller** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:22 am

Bad: exposed tires.

here's one of my faves, one always shows up at the Iola car show. a McCormick Orchard Grove:

Cliffjumper · Post by **Cliffjumper** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 5:20 am

awesome tractor

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 9:08 am

Okay it has a new clutch in it.

First i removed the steering wheel

then i disconnected all of the wiring ( well i ripped it out and threw it away, who needs wiring ) from the dash plate

i disconnected the hand throttle from the fuel pump, then removed the dash plate

i emptied the fuel tank in to a suitable container ( which wasnt big enough so i spent an hour cleaning the overspill up before she saw it )

i removed the fuel tank

I then supported the rear half of the tractor just behind the bell housing with axle stands ( which were cunningly disguised as breeze blocks coz i couldnt find the axle stands )

I then placed a trolly jack under the back of the engine

i undid the 10 bolts that hold the gearbox and the engine together then i wheeled the front half of the tractor forwards to get at the clutch ( well what was left of it anyway )

exactly why the jack decided to loose hight very rapidly is anyones guess so I ended up with the front half looking like it wanted to blast in to space or something, however never fear the loader lifted it.

i replaced the clutch disk and treid to put the two halfs back together, but i forgot to chock the back wheels with the resulting loud crash as the breeze blocks gave way and the gearbox hit the ground, I did eventually get the two halfs back together but she came home at that point, so I had other more important things to attend to.

More when I get time

Rumble · Post by **Rumble** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 12:35 pm

I am liking this thread already, keep it coming Dirge.

Rumble.

Post by **Time Traveller** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 3:57 pm

sounds like you've gotten an incredible amount of work done already! Me, i am just trying to keep the beaters on the road.

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Sun Dec 21, 2008 4:25 pm

its easy when you know what you are doing. plus i have replaced many clutches in david browns, but never one as chewed up as this one

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:56 pm

I have rebuilt its engine over christmas, before kath left.

First i took the exhaust silencer off then the bonnet.

Then i removed the sump plug to let the engine oil drain but i forgot to put a pan under it with the end result of her swearing at me as she slipped on the oil and fell on her a$$

Then I removed the sump and oil pump and untightened the 8 bolts ( 2 to each of the four conrods ) that hold the two halves of the big ends together around the crankshaft and removed the bottom halves.

I then removed the rocker cover, rockshaft, shoverods and the cylider head.

to my unending horror i saw that the compresion rings in bore #3 had scored the cylinder wall, meaning that the engine block needed reboreing.

so i removed the pistons and conrods then i tried to remove the crankshaft, i spent half an hour pulling, pushing, swearing and generally abuseing it, before she just undid the screw that holds it in place

I then had a guy come in with the correct tool to rebore the engine block making it bigger by 1 70th of an inch i then fitted new liners and slightly bigger pistons ( wahey, more power

) then I reversed the order of the above to rebuild the engine.

We then spent 2 hours trying to start it, before with the help of easy - start ( the second biggest sin in motoring cause they get addicted to it and then they wont start without it ) it came to life

it then blew the silencer straight up because some dunce hadnt tightened it on ( yes, i was sworn at again )

Only one thing to do now ........

road test

Commander Megatron · Post by **Commander Megatron** » Tue Jan 06, 2009 11:57 am

Get pics of it on the road Dirge!!!!!

Dinobot · Post by **Dinobot** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 12:37 am

You have to have a costume on when you get it on the road for pics. Mad Max maybe?

Dirge · Post by **Dirge** » Wed Jan 07, 2009 7:22 am

i was thinking more like evil kineval or lewis hamilton

if im drunk enough maybe even batman

The restoring thread

The restoring thread

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